5 takeaways from Ohio State’s Day 1 of Early Signing Period

Ryan Day didn’t have to wait long to feel recruiting pressure.

The incoming head football coach at Ohio State — he will officially take over when Urban Meyer retires after the Rose Bowl — was active on the recruiting trail in the aftermath of this month’s announcement that he’d ascend to the permanent coaching position.

The NCAA’s three-day Early Signing Period began Wednesday and Ohio State had a major coup with a 5-star recruit signing on the dotted line. But the Buckeyes also lost a couple of prospects they thought they had had since June.

Here are 5 takeaways for Ohio State from the first day of the Early Signing Period.

Big get on Wednesday

The top recruit in Ohio State’s Class of 2019 was a late comer. DE Zach Harrison, rated the No 4 overall prospect in the country by the analysts at 247Sports, signed with the Buckeyes on Wednesday. OSU was considered the favorite to land the 6-foot-6, 243-pounder out of Oletangy Orange High. But Michigan stuck around in the picture, and programs such as Alabama and Penn State also pursued him. Harrison, considered a 5-star, is rated the nation’s No. 1 recruit at his position and No. 1 overall in Ohio.

Home cooking

OSU landed five of the top nine recruits in Ohio by Wednesday afternoon. All were in the top 330 of overall national recruits according to 247 rankings. The others aside from Harrison were all rated 4-star recruits — OLB Cade Stover (Mansfield Lexington High), OT Ryan Jacoby (Mentor High), ILB Tommy Eichenberg (Cleveland St. Ignatius) and DE Noah Potter (Mentor High).

Waiting game

As of late Wednesday afternoon, OSU was waiting for 4-star commit Doug Nester. The OG from Huntington, W. Va., committed in August. Georgia, Penn State, Alabama and Virginia Tech were all among the schools still chasing after Nester, rated the No. 92 overall prospect in the country.

Flip up, flip down

OSU lived through a fair bit of drama on Wednesday with prospects flipping away from Columbus. Florida 4-star S Jordan Battle, who committed to the Buckeyes in June, signed with Alabama on Wednesday morning. The SEC took another chunk out of the Scarlet and Gray’s recruiting class when QB Dwan Mathis, a 4-star prospect from Michigan, signed with Georgia. Mathis had also committed to OSU in June. However, there were reports already Wednesday that Georgia quarterback Justin Fields, who has entered the NCAA transfer portal, was interested in coming to Ohio State.

All over the map

OSU is truly a national brand in recruiting, and Wednesday’s opening day of the Early Signing Period was further evidence. The Buckeyes signed recruits from 11 states, from Texas to New Jersey and points in between. OSU signed the second-best prospect from Georgia, 5-star WR Garrett Wilson; the third-ranked recruit from New Jersey, S Ronnie Hickman; and the No. 2-rated player from Missouri, WR Jameson Williams. Considering their recent success with out-of-state gems like DEs Joey and Nick Bosa, RBs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber and QBs Dwayne Haskins and J.T. Barrett, it’s little wonder that recruits from all over find the Buckeyes appealing and vice versa.

Jim Tomlin

Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.